A fire basket is an iron basket in which wood can be burned to make a
bonfire. Fire baskets have been used since antiquity mainly to illuminate and heat rooms.[1] Today, they are most often used in an outdoor garden area as an
outdoor heater or
grill. The fire basket primarily is used to contain
firewood, or another fuel, and is meant to offer
fire protection.[2]
The basket itself consists of a heat-resistant steel, or iron, container with high side walls that are punctuated by large mesh or grid-like openings, with a bowl underneath to catch the ashes.[3]
A fire basket is similar to a
brazier, and is often used not only as a heat source but also for cooking or grilling food.
Background
During the Middle Ages fire baskets filled with
sulfur were used to repel the
Black Death.[4]
In addition to its lighting and heating functions, fire baskets have a wide variety of uses. Before
document shredders, the fire basket was widely used to burn
secret documents, and fire baskets are most often found in a garden for heat and light.[3] The
beacon atop the
Altenburg castle in
Bamberg served to communication with the neighboring
Giechburg castle.[3]
A fire basket is an uncommon heraldic figure in heraldry. Another name in Germany is the "
pitch basket",[9] or a "straw basket".[10]
A distinction is made between two representations: Only the empty fire basket or the basket with flames licking up from it is shown in the coat of arms and/or in the upper coat of arms. All
heraldic colors are used, but black and the
metals are used most often. The flames are mostly red. Deviations and special shapes and positions are to be mentioned in the description of the coat of arms. The town of
Becherbach uses the fire basket in its
coat of arms from the terms pitch and basket.[11]